Los Altos Town Crier » Residents protest $3.5 million town hall

By Cory Emory

Image from article Residents protest $3.5 million town hall

Photo by Joe Hu, Town Crier

Los Altos Hills

The $3.5 million mission-style town hall slated to replace the existing one on Fremont Road is the wrong concept, in the wrong place, for the wrong town, says a group of Los Altos Hills residents who staged a protest at the site last week.

“The new proposed plan is high visibility, high noise, environmentally inappropriate, and we have major safety concerns,” said resident Mark Breier, who helped organize the May 7 protest.

The proposed town hall features adobe walls, a tile roof, mission-style arches and a circular driveway facing Fremont Road.

The new 6,900-square-foot building would be taller, larger and possibly include up to 21 additional parking spaces, a catering kitchen, meeting rooms and a reception area. The council chambers would be able to accommodate 100 people, or about 40 more than the current chambers hold.

“The bottom line … is that town hall has been a good neighbor so far. They’re quiet, there’s not much going on around. It’s just like having a house next door and we’d like it to stay that way,” said resident Ann Hubbell.

The 26 residents at the protest said they were worried about the effect such a large-scale building would have on their neighborhood and how the building will be funded. Many said they felt that the city council was ignoring their concerns.

“We had a meeting, that we initiated, with Bob Fenwick in early April. We waited a month and got no response. We then followed up. We still didn’t get any response, so several of us went to a council meeting May 3 and registered a formal protest,” said resident Linda Bien.

Councilman Bob Fenwick said the city will build the town hall regardless of the fund raising.

City officials say the current town hall is outdated, cramped and has termite damage. The town hall was built 47 years ago on land donated by the town’s first mayor, Arthur Fowle.

The Los Altos Hills City Council is scheduled to approve final drawings for the new town hall after architect John Goldman makes a few minor modifications.